


The Knight and His King

by HomeForImaginaryFriends



Series: 31 Days of HQ Halloween [9]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), First years as third years, Fluff, Halloween Costumes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 02:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21190286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomeForImaginaryFriends/pseuds/HomeForImaginaryFriends
Summary: Tsukishima is going to confess.  He is.  Don't give him that look, he really is going to this time.Or is he?





	The Knight and His King

“Guess.” Kuroo said after Tsukishima had finally given in and asked what he was supposed to be.

“No.” Tsukishima answered back without hesitation. Kuroo whined and Tsukishima turned to walk away but he was suddenly grabbed and hauled back. Sawamura laughed beside Kuroo and Tsukishima thought he had come a lot further from once offering to kick Kuroo’s ass for bothering Tsukishima.

“We’re cool cats!” Kuroo slid his mirrored aviators onto his face, looping his arm over Sawamura’s shoulder to pull him close. “Get it?” He grinned, the drawn on whiskers moving on his face.

“You know you can do better.” Tsukishima told Sawamura who slid his own aviators on his face despite it being full dark outside and the fact that they were at an indoor party.

“I know.” Sawamura answered with a shrug.

“Babe.” Kuroo whined again, turning an offended face back on Sawamura who pretended not to see. Or perhaps, due to the sunglasses, he really couldn’t see.

“He’s not wrong.” Sawamura took a sip of his beer.

“I get that but you’re not supposedly to openly admit it.” Kuroo complained, nuzzling the side of Sawamura’s head and smearing the carefully placed whiskers and black triangle nose.

Tsukishima shook his head and left them to their flirting. He stuck to the edges of the party, making his way towards the kitchen. He doubted there would be any food left, not with a crowd of young athletes, but maybe alcohol would help settle his nerves. He had approached Sawamura and Kuroo for advice and while Kuroo had been as obnoxious as ever, despite now being 21, he was still helpful in his own way. Especially with Sawamura there to keep him on track and keeping the teasing down to a minimum.

Their situation had some similarities to Tsukishima’s own. Rivals who had fallen into something more. But neither had Tsukishima’s personal brand of self sabotage and horrible attitude, especially when faced with the unknown. They had encouraged him to go for it, though Tsukishima still wasn’t sure what “it” was.

A crush? Love? Stupid teenage hormones? A horrible symptom of a long term flu?

“Tsukki!” Hinata nearly barrelled Tsukishima right over but he had gotten three years of practice in dodging that particular ball of ridiculous sunshine so it came only as second nature to side step easily. It didn’t slow down Hinata, nothing really did. Yachi, who had gotten better with her nerves but tended to stick close to people she knew in large group settings like this party, followed after Hinata at a slower pace. Hinata was unimagitive as always, dressed in a Team Japan costume while Yachi made a cute witch. “Have you seen Kageyama yet?”

Tsukishima hated that out of all people even Hinata knew about Tsukishima’s stupid  _ feelings  _ towards their setter. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, Hinata while not being exactly studious was extremely good at reading people. He practically knew about Tsukishima’s feelings even before Tsukishima did.

Hinata was also irritatingly closed lipped about if Kageyama returned feelings. Tsukishima had lost the majority of his animosity towards the shrimp over the past three years but it didn’t change the fact that Kageyama was still Hinata’s best friend and he wouldn’t betray that trust no matter how much Tsukishima blackmailed or bribed, or even threatened him.

“I’m surprised he decided to come.” Tsukishima said as a non-answer. Mostly Kageyama avoided any and all party-type situations, especially if there was alcohol or a copious amount of junk food involved. He had been scouted by the tops schools, of course he was, he was a volleyball genius after all. He never participated in anything that could potentially harm the body that he had honed for so many years into perfect condition.

It was one of the main reasons why Tsukishima hadn’t come out and confessed yet. Relationships, along with liquor and unhealthy food, was something Kageyama had no interest in. Tsukishima wasn’t even sure he wanted a relationship with Kageyama, especially now when they were so close to graduating and would undoubtedly be heading off onto different paths.

Tsukishima told himself that, repeatedly, it was the logical course. Just to shove his feelings down until they eventually snuffed out like a fire no one fed any new timber to. But he had recently been feeling a sort of desperation, a need to spend as much time with the other teen as possible. That was not logical but Tsukishima couldn’t help how he felt.

“I don’t think he was interested in the party but more interested in someone who would be attending.” Yachi smiled innocently. Tsukishima narrowed his eyes but she had lost her fear of him sometime between their first and second year together.

“A lot of our old teammates have shown up.” Tsukishima said, purposefully obtuse. He grinned when they both groaned out loud, shoving and poking him until he was swatting away their hands and walking away, once more in search of the kitchen.

Tsukishima gave Tanaka and Nishinoya a wide berth of space. He had already suffered through several bone crushing hugs from the both of them, which was utterly ridiculous in Tanaka’s case since both their older siblings were dating and they saw each other regularly. Ennoshita gave him a nod as he passed by before patiently telling Tanaka to put his shirt back on,  _ please _ .

The house was practically bursting with people. Even those from their rival teams had shown up for the Halloween party. Tsukishima was stopped several more times before he finally managed to find the kitchen.

“Hey Tsukishima.” Azumane looked out of place, dressed as a gangster as he leaned against the counter. Tsukishima gave him a nod as he dug through the pizza boxes, hoping for a single slice. “You want some pizza? What kind do you want?” Azumane opened the stove and pulled out a box.

“You sound like a drug dealer.” Tsukishima snickered even as he grabbed a slice of cheese pizza. Azumane laughed as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

“Asahi has been hoarding the pizza!” Sugawara shouted, appearing out of nowhere to chop Azumane’s side. 

“I’m- ow- just trying- ow- to make sure- ow- that everyone gets a slice!” Azumane huddled away from Sugawara, guarding his sides. The kitchen was rushed at mention of more food and Tsukishima made a quick exit.

“Did someone say there was more pizza?” Sawamura asked.

“It’s going fast.” Tsukishima motioned to the kitchen and would have laughed at Sawamura’s determined look but he pitied anyone who came between his old captain and food. Tsukishima was surprised when Kuroo didn’t immediately follow after. “If you don’t follow him around like his shadow how is anyone to know you’re cool cats?”

“You’ve gone soft in your old age, your insults aren’t nearly as biting as they were when you were an adorable 15 year old.” Tsukishima took a bite of his pizza while glaring at Kuroo.

“If I’m old then you must be on your deathbed.” He sniped back but he could admit, his insults did lack the harshness he once had. It wasn’t as if he was a completely different person. He knew he had a poor personality that most couldn’t stand, he didn’t believe in niceties though he was always polite to his elders. But that chip he had on his shoulder when he was younger had lost most of its weight over the past three years. It was hard to be hopelessly bitter all the time when he was always exhausted from volleyball and school.

“You know it was Daichi who asked me out,” Kuroo’s eyes drifted past Tsukishima. “I always thought you were kind of like me, but people like Daichi only have the patience to wait so long for us to get our shit together.” Tsukishima lifted an eyebrow but never got the chance to ask what Kuroo meant because someone’s hand came down on his shoulder. Tsukishima turned and nearly choked on his pizza.

Tsukishima was going to murder Yamaguchi. Tsukishima hadn’t even thought twice when Yamaguchi had shown up with a fake sword and helmet, claiming Tsukishima couldn’t go to a Halloween party not in costume. That rat bastard.

Kageyama was dressed as a king and Tsukishima was dressed as a knight and Tsukishima was considering not allowing his  _ former best friend _ live to see his next birthday.

“There you are.” Kageyama said as if he had been looking for Tsukishima. Which was probably true. Kageyama handled social situations better than Yachi, but he still tended to stick close to people he knew. Usually that meant Hinata but their ace was a social butterfly and flickered from one group to the next in the blink of an eye. Lately Kageyama had been hovering near Tsukishima more often over the past year.

“I’m going to make sure my boyfriend hasn’t gotten into a fight over food.” Kuroo walked off, mumbling  _ again _ under his breath which didn’t surprise Tsukishima.

“Want to go outside?” Kageyama asked and Tsukishima nodded without really thinking it through.

It was cold outside, of course it was because it was the end of October and the sun had set hours ago. Tsukishima finished off his pizza so he could shove his suddenly cold fingers into his hoodie pocket. He had grown over the years, they all had, but he was still the tallest on the team. More muscular than he had been as a beanpole first year but his height still meant he had poor circulation. He was almost always cold and his fingers were icicles.

“Do you want my cloak?” Kageyama offered, already taking off the long red cloak to wrap it around Tsukishima’s shoulders. There wasn’t much more to Kageyama’s costume except a crown that sat crooked on his head and a plastic scepter that looked childishly small in his large hand. Kageyama had grown also, which was a never ending source of irritation for Hinata who had gained centimeters but was still one of the shortest on the teams. Kageyama had also filled out, shoulders broad and packed with tight muscles that Tsukishima had not taken constant notice of.

Just like he hadn’t taken notice of how soft Kageyama’s hair looked or how intensely encouraging he tried to be with terrified first years. Tsukishima sure as hell had not noticed how Kageyama not only listened but remembered everything people tell him, stupid things like how they didn’t like a certain song or their favorite candy. He didn’t constantly think about how Kageyama carried around a spare pair of headphones, the only reason Tsukishima knew that one was because last year at a training camp someone had stepped on and broken Tsukishima’s and Kageyama had instantly pulled out a new pair, still in the package.

Tsukishima didn’t notice how stylish Kageyama’s clothes were or how well they fit his athletic frame, he knew Kageyama’s mother bought most of his clothes and her being a former model meant she was well versed in all things fashion related. Kageyama didn’t care about how he looked, he cared about function and practicality of his clothes but even in smelly three-day old training camp workout gear he still managed to look good.

Nope, Tsukishima hadn’t noticed any of that.

Kageyama’s big and warm hand touched Tsukishima’s elbow lightly, trailed down his forearm in a slow fashion that meant Tsukishima could have yanked back at any point. He stood stockstill as Kageyama’s hand found Tsukishima’s chilled one, the thick calluses rough on his skin even as Kageyama kept his touch light and so careful. Tsukishima opened up his own hand, let Kageyama slot his fingers through his own.

Despite the chill in the air Tsukishima felt his face heat up. He supposed this was what Kuroo meant, he must have saw some kind of determination in Kageyama’s face as he approached Tsukishima from behind.

“I like you.” Kageyama said without a trace of self consciousness. Tsukishima thought that had been established with the hand holding but he should have known better. Kageyama was constantly misreading situations, he found reading other people extremely difficult so it made him rather blunt to make sure there was no miscommunication. Kageyama confessing would be no different. “When I asked other people about it they always seemed concerned about losing something, trust or friendship. But then I decided that didn’t matter.”

“Oh?” Tsukishima turned to Kageyama, facing him for the first time since he had put the cloak over Tsukishima’s shoulders.

“It wouldn’t happen with us.” Kageyama shrugged. “If you didn’t feel the same way nothing would change. We would still go to Nationals-” Tsukishima snorted at that.

“Volleyball idiot.” Tsukishima tugged on Kageyama’s hand, making the other teen move closer. Kageyama could have resisted, Tsukishima might still have a handful of centimeters on Kageyama but he still weighed more than Tsukishima. “Is that what stopped you confessing? Because you were worried it would affect how we play?” Kageyama scowled, though it wasn’t aimed at Tsukishima.

“What else would I be worried about?” Kageyama asked and Tsukishima shook his head.

“My idiot king.” Kageyama’s scowl deepened but they both knew Tsukishima didn’t really mean it. Tsukishima leant down, going slow so Kageyama had plenty of time to pull away. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Okay.” Kageyama glanced down at Tsukishima’s mouth, looking as if he was preparing for his next maths quiz. Tsukishima laughed softly, ignoring how fond it sounded.

The kiss was soft and careful. Neither of them had much experience, in Kageyama’s case none at all. But it was peaceful, soothing in a way Tsukishima hadn’t realized a small intimacy could be.

As most things that involved Karasuno members, old and new, that peace was quickly overcome by chaos.

“Get some Tsukki!” Tanaka shouted. Tsukishima looked behind Kageyama to see what must have been every person at the party pressed up against windows or hanging out the back door.

“Shouyou you little shit, Tsukki kissed first so you win the pool.” Tsukishima was pretty sure that was Nishinoya.

“But Kageyama confessed first so Yamaguchi won that one.” Someone else called.

“Excuse me, I have to go strangle my former best friend.” Tsukishima stated, striding away but refusing to give up Kageyama’s hand. Kageyama followed with a confused look on his face.

“Why?” Kageyama asked, looking even more confused as people yelled their congratulations and slapped him on the back. Tsukishima let out a loud sigh and ignored how fond that sounded too.

**Author's Note:**

> October 9th, 2019 - 9. Swing


End file.
